Blindness
by Kapootya
Summary: Itachi doesn't see a reason to live in darkness, but his attempt to die in darkness puts him in the care of Doctor Haruno. Can he be saved?
1. He hopes he's dying

He is going blind. That was the heartless diagnosis from the doctor. Not even a flash of real pity crossed the old man's face as he delivered the news. Why would there be anyway? Around the world – thousands of people died each and every day. And the world doesn't stop for them. So why would it stop for him?

He was _only_ going blind.

Itachi sits on a random park bench on a sunny afternoon near a grassy clearing; he fumbles with his glasses between his fingers as he looks around at the blurry green scenery. He never minded that he always wore glasses and eventually got used to everything being indifferentiable without them. It was almost comforting, like an escape. Without his glasses it would feel like he wasn't even there…like he didn't exist. As a young teenager he remembers thinking on an exceptionally stormy walk home from school that without his glasses, it's was like another world. Nothing looked quite right. It was special in a way.

His world…the world of blurred colors and broken lines.

But now, color was to be taken from him as well.

He places the glasses back on his face and notices that his vision is truly deteriorating. Just two months ago, this prescription had made the world crystal clear. Now he can't read the word STOP on the street sign just a few meters away.

He scuffles at himself, what now? He had done everything by the book, gone to Harvard for Political Science, gotten a 180 on the LSATs, gone to Yale for law school, passed the bar on the first try, and was now hearing rumors of partnership with his legal firm. It was all like his father predicted and mother encouraged. It was the path of every other son and daughter in the family…and he was following it to the letter and beyond.

Itachi sighs as he mentally racks up all his accomplishments – they'd soon mean nothing to anyone.

Discrimination is illegal – but the disabled are discriminated in that ill fashioned way that one cannot bring blame to the discriminator. Who would want a blind lawyer? Who would want to be partnered in a firm with a blind man? Who would want a blind man? Who would trust a blind man to run the biggest law firm in the world?

No one.

Itachi puts his elbows on his knees and rubs his temples. A headache decides to attack him in his desperate need for peace. They were getting progressively worse as he aged and his tolerance for pain was exceptional. But now…now it hurts and annoys him all at once. He is frustrated. His body is failing, exactly when he needs it most.

"Damnit," he curses between clenched teeth. He could not be a cripple. He could not live his life that way. He refuses to walk around with a pole…or worse, a dog. He closes his eyes for longer than standard length and the blackness disgusts him. He is not okay with it.

.

…

.

That night he attempts to commit suicide, he wants to be a part of the dead thousand of the day. He wants to be a name in the obituaries and nothing else. A beautiful funeral service, a few passing tears, and a handful of kind words of what he could have been. Because that all he could hope to strive for, otherwise people would know what he couldn't have been. He couldn't have that. He couldn't let people know how weak he was becoming.

.

…

.

Apparently he survives the fall from his four story town house. He knew he should have done it from his office window, but that would have caused more problems than he was worth.

He inhales and doubts that heaven could smell so chemically clean. His surroundings are all white from what he is able tell but there is no sweet harp playing in the background, he's not surrounded by soft clouds and singing angels, and there is no peace or dark flames engulfing him with unimaginable pain, and no devils whispering his sins to him. Not that he believes in that type of thing. It's just something one expects after suicide.

Failed suicide.

He felt the internal turmoil rage inside his soul and the feeling of being incomplete. He was definitely still alive.

"Ahhh, you're awake?" A voice asks but he cannot respond, he tries to move his head but can't. He even realizes that his breathing is being regulated by a machine. He has lost all control.

"Don't force yourself, you're pretty much in a full body cast," the feminine voice says and he doesn't know what to think. Then a big blur of pink appears in front of him, "my name is Doctor Sakura Haruno but you can just call me Sakura. Your family has instated me as your personal doctor and assistant throughout the stages of your recovery," the pink vanishes.

He already knows this isn't a hospital, once word got out that an Uchiha tried to commit suicide he'd be willing to bet his life (death) on his father paying off the media to claim it was a hoax but some local teenagers.

"You're in my private room in my apartment," she says off handedly from further away, "you're parents didn't want your…" she chooses her words carefully but Itachi is not deaf, he hears the sarcasm, "_accident_ to go public. So," he hears the tap of the pen as she writes something on something, "surgery has fixed just about everything…tomorrow I'll try to get you off the respirator and see if you're able to talk. Damn miracle you survived that jump. Well, anyway…I'll skip all the things you've broken, fractured, and permanently damaged and just get to the point."

He hears something being put down but can't be sure. He can move his eyes but not his head and she's just out of line of his poor vision.

"I've received records from your previous doctors and it seems you are," she pauses in such a way that he thinks he hears sorrow in her voices, or maybe it's pity, "going blind. This will cause some difficulty with your rehabilitation but we'll be taking it one step at a time."

He wants to die.

Just die.

If he's going to sink into absolute darkness, let it be out of his own will and inside a casket six feet under. Let the worms eat at his body before his soul destroys itself from living with such a cruel disability.

"Well then, I'll be back to check up on you soon," he listens to her soft footsteps leave the room. He hears a click and the lights dim slightly.

Just like that he's alone. He closes his eyes, and is swallowed by the sore red backdrop of his lids before they fade to black.

He sleeps out of force or out of exhaustion, Itachi isn't sure. He just wants the thinking to stop. He wants it all to end. His future, once bright – now dim…fading…

He wakes up to silence, the dim darkness burns at his being as a cruel reminder of what's to come. He passes onto unconsciousness – voluntarily or involuntarily, he's never sure. Control is just a myth.

He wakes up again to the sound of his doctors voice, "My mother is a fish," and he thinks she's gone crazy but she continues anyway not hearing his thoughts, "Next chapter is Tull speaking; It was ten oclock when I got back, with Peabody's team hitched on to the back of the wagon. They had already dragged the buckboard back from where Quick found it upside down straddle of the ditch about a mile from the spring. It was pulled out of the road at the spring, and about a dozen wagons was already there. It was Quick found it. He said the river was up and still rising. He said it had already covered the highest water-mark on the bridge-piling he had ever seen."

Then he hears the turn of the page and realizes that she's reading to him. Though, what she's reading – with such terrible grammar and structure, he doesn't know and can't say, there is a tub down his throat controlling his breathing and stopping his speech. A mute is what he is now.

She continues for about twenty more minutes or so, just enough for Itachi to learn that a storm is approaching in the book. A boy named Jewel brings his horse and it is somehow disrespectful to his mother according to a character named Anse. The family travels through an almost sunken bridge and the mother's coffin is drowned. A son named Cash injuries his leg and loses his tools. The family retrieves the tools.

"Oh, you're awake!" he catches a glimmer of pink before it vanishes, "so wasn't that nice? I mean the idea isn't nice…but this book," he hears her sigh, "is amazing. It's called As I lay Dying, by Faulkner. I'm not sure if you've read it before. But I think everyone needs to read it before they die," her voice doesn't even shake at the word of death.

"Anyhow," he hears something being placed down, "I needed to wait for you to be awake for this. To say the least, I'm relieved you've slept for fifty-nine hours…I was slightly shocked that you woke up when you did a few days ago, I really thought you'd be in a coma for at least a week. Well, anyhow; I'm going to be right back."

She leaves.

Twenty blinks of Itachi's eyes later she returns, her voice is soft but stern, "Alright, I'll be removing the tube from your mouth. Please understand that there will be an extreme sensation of discomfort and you will feel a gag reflex. I know you will feel the need to assist me in removing it, but the less you move your body the better. If you fully comprehend what I just said blink twice."

He blinks twice.

"Alright Itachi, please do your best not to move."

He feels soft hands on his neck and another near his jaw, and then he feels the most discomfort he had felt since his snowboarding accident a few years ago where he had dislocated his knee and had it relocated without any anesthesia. It's almost like that, except the pain is in his throat and it's ten times worse.

He doesn't remember his suicide attempt or the pain after the impact. He isn't sure whether he should be grateful or not.

He gags, but doesn't move as he feels something slippery and slimy slide against his tongue. Then it's all over and he suddenly feels empty; as if a limb from inside him had been removed. Breathing is harder; he feels the conscious effort of actually inhaling and exhaling. He wants to lift his arms up and hold his chest because he feels like vomiting, but can't. His arms are immobile and there is nothing to vomit. So he coughs. His insides twist.

"At the moment, try to refrain from talking," she speaks calmly, "Now you're going to breathe for a few minutes on your own. Then I'll give you some room temperature water and if you feel like speaking, go for it," she says and after he breathes enough times on his own for her to be satisfied, then he feels the rim of a cold glass cup on his lips.

He tries to ignore the fact that he cannot see the glass…just a blur of a dull gray outline of her hand. He pretends that's not true. He pretends he sees the cup. It's an easy figure to visualize.

He has to pretend or else he'd have tried to drown himself in that cup.

He drinks, it feels strange and as the liquid goes down his esophagus he almost coughs it back up. This time he has something to vomit up. He feels the water spill down his neck and onto his chest.

"Shhhh, it's okay," he feels her touch his chest and the contact burns, "just take it easy."

He drinks another gulp and then refuses the rest. The cup leaves his lips but Itachi can't see that. The doctor had said he had a month before blindness would set in if he did not stress his body. He, now, has a sneaky suspicion that jumping from his balcony had increased the rate of degradation.

"Speak whenever you can."

He doesn't speak right away. He isn't sure what to say.

"I was informed," he senses the trepidation in her voice as she does the talking for him, "by your mother that you're really not a talker," she chuckles softly as he hears the sound of pen against being tapped against a clipboard a few times, "she pretty much warned me that you pretend to be a mute."

It stings. It shouldn't sting, but her words are like the lingering feeling of a paper cut that has been forgotten and only remember when in contact with hand sanitizer.

He's not mute but is an extreme introvert. His mother had him tested when he was five because he hated speaking and socializing.

"Sooooo," she draws out the o longer than necessary. He decides he finds that annoying, "I just need you to speak a few sentences, or just recite the entire alphabet or the national anthem," he feels her hands on his throat.

He pretends to see them, pretends that there is a definite outline to her arms. But it's just a peach colored blur in front of a white background.

"H-how long?" he finally chokes out, because he has to know.

"How long?" she asks back, "How long until you are able to move most of your body? How long you've been incapacitated? How long until you are fully recovered?"

"All," he croaks and wishes he took another gulp of the water as his mouth has suddenly gone dry.

He feels her hands leave his skin and then a familiar chilling feeling returns to his lips, he opens slightly and water streams in. He swallows greedily, needing more.

"You've been incapacitated about a week and a half. You needed a lung transplant, you had a concussion, four broken ribs, both your legs broken, you left ankle and right elbow were completely shattered and required reconstruction, and who knows what other psychological trauma you've suffered prior to the physical damage," she says the last part so lightly that he wonders what _her_ exact mental state is. He'd ask to see her license to practice if he were in any other situation. "I'd say about another day till you can move your left arm in minor ways. Another two months till you can even entertain the idea of walking. From then I'd say rehabilitation will take six to twelve months."

The liquid is gone and the cup is empty. She removes it; her hands are back on his throat, "keep talking."

He doesn't know what to say so he recites the alphabet for her medical exam. Her hands inch lower towards his collar bone and stop at his chest as he nears the twenty-sixth letter.

"Alright, everything looks good," she says and removes her hands from his body, "now then. Tomorrow I will be starting you on a liquid diet and slowly ease you back into solid food. I've also been paid to teach you the Braille system. I was told you're a faster learner."

He's silent. Braille system…his parents know he's going blind.

He doesn't realize that he is crying until he feels her soft and too warm hand whipping away his tears. He just wants her to go away but he can't bring himself to voice it. He hates himself, he hates her, he hates his parents for their poor genetics, and most of all – he hates himself for jumping rather than taking a bullet to the head.

She sits and he hears a book open, "So this is the section we stopped at. I think it's the most genius of them all." She pretends like he hadn't just cried and he isn't sure whether or not to be grateful, "It's by Addie, the dead mother," she clears her voice, "In the afternoon when school was out and the last one had left with his little dirty snuffling nose, instead of going home I would go down the hill to the spring where I could be quiet and hate them…"

She continues reading, and Itachi listens because there's nothing else he could do. His voice is lost somewhere, he's immobile, and his vision is nearly gone. He has never, in his entire life, felt so vulnerable and at the mercy of another human being.

To make matters worse that human being was reading the most obscure piece of literature Itachi had ever heard but it's all he has now. So he listens because his ears have yet to fail him.

.

…

.

He wakes up when he a distinct uncomfortable feeling between his legs and then he feels her hand sweep his inner thigh. His eyes are now fully open, but he can't see. He can't see what she's doing. A gray blur, but he spots a blotch of pink. Something white. A little blue. Maybe.

"Shhh, don't tremble so much," she says softly but it doesn't matter what she says because he can't see what she's doing. He can't move his legs, he can't move his arms fully, and he can barely move his head. He feels complete blindness creeping up on him, faster and faster. The pink hat she wore was the only color he could see now….and that was barely.

"It's okay; I'm changing your waste bag. We're starting the liquid diet, remember? So I need a new one to see how your body is processing protein, carbs, and fats. I just finished setting up, I'm going to pull a blanket over your legs now," and he feels the soft quilt slid up to his stomach.

"Am…am I naked?" he asks and immediately feels ashamed to ask such a question. But he has to know. He has to know how humiliated he is.

"Nope," the doctor replies popping the p, "you're in a hospital gown. Later in the evening I'll be giving you a sponge bath," she says in such a professional tone that its true meaning is distorted in Itachi's ears. "Now then," he hears the slight squeak of the chair and the motions of her sitting down. Once again a book is opened and she continues reading.

And he listens, because he has no choice. Because he can't do anything. He can't die.

She stops after Darl has been taken away.

_Out of my own free will, I would have never even opened such a book. _

_But my free will is gone. _A nagging voice reminds him.

"Now then," she says, her voice nearer to him than before, "I'm going to go mix up lunch for both of us. I'll be back soon."

She leaves him, and he stops breathing. Why? He's not sure…maybe it was because she left or maybe it was because it was the only thing he had control over.

He holds it even as his head spins. He continues holding it even when he hears her rush back in the room due to the increased beeping of the medical machines.

"Breathe! Itachi! Breathe!" She yells at him.

But he refuses. Everything is so gray. It's not his world. It's not.

She, then, takes away his ability to breathe as he feels her lips press tightly against his and forces her breath into him. He gasps out of surprise and then a chilling plastic is placed over the surrounding area of his mouth and his eye lids droop. He tries not to breathe but it's too late. Everything's vanishing all over again.

He hopes he's dying. He hopes she's poisoning him.

* * *

**A/N**: Playing around with a different style of writing. Please let me know how you feel about it, and please review the story.

Thank you so much! Hope you enjoyed!


	2. You're going to continue breathing

When he wakes up, the room is silent and he wonders if he's alone. Unable to know. Unable to look. His view is almost completely gone. Everything is a blurry gray. No outlines – nothing.

"That was utterly idiotic!" She yells and he is slightly shocked. "What the hell were you thinking? You put so much pressure on your heart you almost went into cardiac arrest!" He hears the furry in her voice.

It reminds him of how his mother used to yell at his father when he missed an important occasion. He wonders if she scowls like his mother when she goes into a fury.

"When I saw your profile, never lost a case, wins billions of dollars a year, a protégée," she lowers he voice harshly, "genius even, what kind of genius tries to off himself?"

The kind that is losing his grasp on reality but he can't explain that to her. Not in so many words.

"I'm Darl," is all he says.

"You're an idiot is what you are," is how she responds, ignoring the reference. "Biggest rule I have is no suicide. You want to off yourself after you're out of here. Go for it. But I will not allow you to cause any harm to your body as long as I'm within range to stop you."

Money. She must have been paid a lot of money by his family for taking this job on.

"Now," she clears her throat and sighs, "I'm going to remove the breathing mask and there's going to be a straw pressed against your lips. You're going to suck on it and get the nutrients your body needs. It's blueberry flavor…and at the moment, I don't care if you don't like it."

His eyes are closed; he sees no point in opening them to see gray blurs that he can't make out. He feels the straw being pressed between his lips. He accepts and sucks through it gently. Expecting horrible generic hospital like powdery taste, but he is surprised when it tastes like a blueberry ice cream shake to him.

"Good, don't drink too much, just push the straw out if you don't want anymore and I'll leave it for later."

He pushes it out of his mouth with his tongue after he feels full, and she moves it away and hears her settle it down on a table nearby.

"So today," she begins, "you're going to continue breathing throughout the entire day – just thought I should remind you," she sounds like a cross between a crazy art teacher he had in high school and his first law school professor who happened to be clinically demented.

"While you were under, I cleaned up your body as best as I could." She would never understand how painful those words were to him. How dehumanizing and emasculated that single statement made him feel.

"I'll be decreasing the anesthesia in your left arm in a few minutes and –,"

"Later," he croaks and hearing his once strong commanding voice turn pathetic and broken made him want to kill himself with a renounced vigor.

"Alright, then I'll –,"

"Leave," he half heartedly muttered, wishing to be deaf to the sound of his voice. It was disgusting.

"Yeah, right," her voice drips with sarcasm as he hears her sit and open a book, flipping through the pages, "time to finish As I Lay Dying."

Perfect title for his situation.

.

…

.

She finishes it, and even Itachi has to admit that the ending was all sorts of fucked up. "Here," she starts and he hears the glass drag across a nearby table, "try to drink some more."

He obeys because in the past hour of her reading he realizes that he is in the position of a zoo animal. He is nothing but something to be observed, watched over, not trusted, and hand fed.

He drinks, and it's slightly too warm for his tastes but he still downs the rest of it till he hears the slurping sound and she pulls away.

"Want more?"

He doesn't say anything. He doesn't wish to ever speak again. He wishes she would shut up.

"Alright," the glass is placed back on the table with a clank, "So, the next book is…"

Another book…he wonders if he could bit off his tongue and bleed to death.

"The Great Gatsby, have you read it before?"

He says yes before he could stop himself.

"Did you like it?"

He doesn't respond.

"Well alright," once more he hears the flipping of the pages, "this used to be one of my favorite stories till I took a class in college and we had to read it. The teacher dissected it so much, that I actually cried the second time reading it…not for Gatsby but for the entire situation. This book is just saturated with classism."

He doesn't say anything and she begins reading. The text is vaguely familiar and it's a sort of comfort to him. Not a large comfort, but a small enough one where he forgets his position in life and is absorbed into the story.

She stops when Nick cleans the shaving cream off the photographer. "Do you see that? The entire story is based around haves and have nots. These people are have nots, and Nick is a have and the have nots are just not up to the standards. Isn't this just…." She makes a noise at the back of her throat that sounds similar between "ugh" and "hmph".

Itachi remains silent.

"Well," she closes the book, "Do you like it so far?" She only waits a few moments before continuing, "maybe we won't try to read in Braille yet. So instead I'll just tell you what the letters look like and tomorrow we can try to move your arm and feel for them. Does that sound, okay?"

She waits this time. He doesn't respond and she just repeats herself and waits again.

"Yes," he replies, because what other choice does he have?

"Good, so let's start." He hears some papers ruffling and then the sound of her clearing her throat, "So we'll do the first dozen letters and then see if you can remember more. Braille is in sets of eight, it used to be six, but they added two more. All the letters only take up the first six. Its two columns and four rows. The letter A has a bump at the top left opening. The letter B has two bumps, on the left side the first and the second down. The letter C has two bumps across on the first row…" she continues until she gets to L, "do you want me to go over them again?"

She waits.

"No," he replies.

"Do you remember them?"

She waits again, and Itachi wishes she was somewhere else…gone….he just wants to be alone.

"Yes."

"Alright, we'll finish up the alphabet and grammar. So the letter M is two in the first row and the left dot in the third row. The letter N is…"

Itachi listens and absorbs the information, his memory is nearly perfect and he never forgets anything that he tries to remember and unfortunately many things he wishes to forget.

"And that's it. There are contractions but let's wait off till your reading. Are you hungry?"

He isn't but he doesn't say anything.

"Alright, well in about two hours I'll much you another shake. Did you enjoy that one I made this morning?"

He doesn't answer and she waits longer than he expects.

"Hmph, okay. Well, let's continue reading."

And so she continues reading.

.

…

.

The next day they're almost half way through The Great Gatsby when she pauses midsentence, "I'll decrease the anesthesia in your left arm, and you should regain nerval movements and such. It will feel like pins and needles for a few moments though."

He hears her put the book down and walk over to his other side. His visions such a dark gray that he can't even make out her shadow as it moves. He estimates that by tomorrow, everything will be black.

Then he feels what she said he would, an intense shot of pins and needles from his fingers up to his shoulder. He groans involuntarily and feels her fingers massage him.

"It's okay," she sooths him but it's pointless.

There's nothing soothing for the blind and immobile.

"Is that better?" she asks after he loses most of the unnatural feeling of pain. He doesn't respond as he moves his fingers around and then raises his hand in front of his face.

He knows it's there but he can't see it. It's invisible. His body is invisible.

He brings his hand closer till it touches his face and he feels the tears stream down. He covers his eyes with his forearm.

"I'll go make you a shake," she says curtly and walks away, stopping momentarily by the door, "don't do anything stupid," she adds.

He pinches the bridge of his nose, as he tries to concentrate. To stop being such a weakling. To stop being so god damn emotional. But he can't because he's blind and vulnerable and completely useless. All his life he has been in control, obviously manipulated by his father but still in control. He was the dominating figure in most situations; people came to him for help…now he was basically chained to a bed. In some doctors apartment and he had just regained the use of his left limb…

A piece of him returned.

He forces himself to stop crying because it's stupid. He's called his younger brother very cruel names every single time he'd teared for no reason.

"Tears don't change a thing. Crying is a useless emotional reaction to a situation which requires logic and reason to solve," he used to say.

But here he is now, all logic and reason tossed to the back burner because he knows if he starts thinking logically…logically that he's entire life is over that he is disabled. Then it would mean –

She walks in, "so I tried a strawberry flavor, I like this one most," she says and he keeps his forearm over his eyes as she presses a straw between his lips.

He opens and sucks gently.

"You know," she starts and he wishes she didn't, "one time…I attempted to kill myself."

He stops sucking the shake but the straw is still in his mouth. He doesn't care about her problems and doesn't want to hear about them either. He wants to tell her to shut up…pick up the book and read if she must talk, but he doesn't.

"Orochimaru …I'm not sure if you know him."

He does.

"He ruined my parents reputation…he switched the medicine they were using for their trials with something he created. It killed thousands. They were experimenting with it…because my dad had this heart disease…and were so close to the cure and I guess they just overlooked things…maybe. But my dad died, and then my mum committed suicide."

She pauses and he could feel her hand tremble. What was the point of telling him this?

"I was just a sophomore in college when I lost both of them. Two of my greatest role models, gone. Do you realize what a selfish and stupid and just pathetic thing suicide is? You have helped this city so much, I've read about your trials…and you've done some great things for ethical policies overseas. I mean sweatshops will be a thing of the past soon because of you. And how dare you even think about…about just giving that all up! You…idiot!"

He wants to turn his head away from her voice, close his ears, and just not hear anymore. It doesn't affect him in any way he cares to admit, but it's enough to make him flinch.

He hears her sigh and feels the straw and glass being removed, "listen…when I did it…I did it with poison and was lucky that my aunt had caught me having a seizure from the side effects and because of that, now I'm alive. You have no idea what tomorrow brings. None what so ever. So if today sucks, deal with it because you can't tell the future."

He hears the glass clang on the table.

"You just don't go off taking away the one thing you have…existence. You don't go stealing that from someone else."

He hears her sniffle now.

She is the most unprofessional doctor he had ever encountered.

"You just can't…there are so many great memories to make. I mean, I may not be here right now if it weren't for my aunt…and even though I bet you'd be pretty happy about that…well I wouldn't!"

She doesn't even make sense to him anymore.

"Okay, okay," he thinks she's talking more to herself than to him, "just promise me you won't try to kill yourself while you're here? Maybe you'll see how much easier things are to deal with when you spend some time actually dealing with them."

He's silent.

"I will take your silence as an agreement to promise…" she warns.

But he remains silent.

"Okay," she says finally as he hears her clear her throat and pick up a book, "let's continue with Gatsby."

.

…

.

They don't have a real conversation with one another for the rest of the night.

The next day, rather than reading another book – she gives him Braille cards. She doesn't ask him which ones which or test him. She only makes him feel various ones and tells him what they are and she remains on his left side handing and taking the wooden square plates from him. He doesn't admit how strange it is to read with his finger tips.

* * *

**A/N:** Hope you've enjoyed. Please don't forget to review. Thank you.


	3. The Cat in the Hat

**Next day: **

Itachi learns that Sakura had placed him into a chemically induced coma for most of the day. Just like that, she stole a day from him.

"I had to remove many of the stitches and clean up some of your wounds…and also had to put in some new stitches," she explains.

The ex-lawyer assumes that if she needed to put him into coma for that, it was probably because it may have caused him embarrassment. Itachi wouldn't be surprised if Sakura thinks of him as a wuss. He feels like one for tearing up over his condition the night before. But now…he's more settled. His current situation isn't forever, and eventually – he will get out of this place and finish what he started – properly.

Sakura decides to take a little break from working on Braille, and instead plays some classical music. He falls asleep before she leaves, and he's not sure if it's a natural or assisted sleep.

.

...

.

Itachi notices that after Sakura's morning showers – she always smells like strawberries and cream, and thinks that is absolutely ridiculous for a grown woman to smell that way. It's especially annoying that even after she leaves, her scent lingers in the room and Itachi can't escape. It's suffocating.

"We're almost done with Gatsby, do you like it so far?" She asks as she puts medicinal cream on his chest. It smells like vicks rub that his nana used to put on him as a child when he got chest colds. It burns his nose, but his single solace is that it doesn't smell like strawberries.

He doesn't answer her, and she continues talking about the next book that she wants to read.

"It's between In Our Town – the only play I like not by Shakespeare…or The Sun Also Rises…have you read either?"

"No," He half whispers half growls, "and I don't care to."

"Good, you're going to be listening to it instead of reading. Glad we can compromise," she said with a hint of anger in her voice.

He can't help but sigh after her hand leaves his chest. He could almost hear the soft lullaby in the elderly voice of his nana being sung. But the snap and click, then a clang of something being placed on the desk nearby snaps him out of his memory. He is at least grateful that he can still see his memories.

"We're doing In Our Town because you're a jackass," she was obviously losing patience with Itachi's cold and annoyed demeanor.

"You are highly unprofessional," he deadpans.

"Oh, so insults make you talk?" she teases in a playful voice and Itachi is left wondering if she has emotional instability issues but says nothing else.

To his disappointment, and surprise, he enjoys the play and he understands her underlying motives for picking such a book to read to him. It still doesn't change his mind; he just couldn't live his life blind and vulnerable. All he has to do was survive living this last portion with her and then he could die in peace, with whatever dignity he still has left.

After she finishes reading the book, feeding him, and giving him a sponge bath, she places a thick book with cardboard pages beside him. "Read off all the letters."

The text in front of him is in Braille and slowly, he felt his way up to the top of the page. He feels insecure again, and is unsure of himself. When he had his eyes to depend on – they assisted him in everything, from reading laws to reading people's faces. Now he has to put the pressure on his fingers, and he isn't confident in them.

He inhales deeply, and smells a concentration of strawberry to his left – Sakura had moved closer to his good arm. He wonders if she's looking over his shoulder or looming over him. He pushes those thoughts aside. They are useless.

"T.H.E." he annunciates every letter, "C.A.T..I.N..T.H.E..H.A…are you serious?" He asks in frustration. The idea of him having to read a children's book was ridiculous and insulting to his intelligence.

"Yes, it's a good book. Did you know that Dr. Seus was a big fan of Faulkner? Like just trying to psychoanalyze his stories with that in mind…it's so twisted and great and…I swear you keep giving me that look like you want to kill me I'll put a bag over your head."

Itachi didn't realize his face was showing any emotions. He thought he had mastered the regular blank poker face every Uchiha was breed into having as a permanent expression. Amazing what a three story jump could do.

"Sorry," he muttered as he relaxes his brows and straightens his mouth into an emotionless line.

"Well, that's not any better," she says and he feels her hand on his forehead, smoothing his hair back and he wishes she wouldn't, he lifts his left hand to make her stop but she's already moved on, "It's okay, I'll get you to look relaxed," her voice is softer than before and Itachi wishes she wasn't even there anymore. He can't predict her mood or response at all….there doesn't seem to be a base line with her. "Let's continue reading. You need to get better at Braille."

So they read The Cat in The Hat.

.

…

.

The days start to blend together. He wakes up, she feeds him, then she reads a few sections in the current book, (after In Our Town she reads Hamlet and attempts to change her voice to one of an English accent – Itachi found those seven hours to be the most torturous. Then she read Pride and Prejudice along with 1984), afterwards she would try to feed him again, perform her medical duties with his I.V's and various machines that are hooked up to him, after cleaning him up, she returns back to reading and before calling it a day she would have him read children's stories in Braille with his good left hand.

The same thing, day in and day out.

While reading the new book of her choice, Stephen King's The Gunslinger she paused in the middle of a sentence and Itachi's eyes fly open in reaction, to see nothing at all. His imagination was illustrating the story for him, and her pause returns him to darkness.

There is complete silence in the room except for the mechanical beeping, but the strong concentration of Strawberries to his right tells him that she is still in the room.

"Itachi," she began and he makes no movements to acknowledge her, "how about you tell me a little about yourself…you know, likes dislikes."

He refuses to speak…for the first time – he wants her to continue reading.

"Okay…well, it's been almost over a month…and this is just…mentally unhealthy. So we're going to have a conversation. I'll tell you a story and you tell me one…or well how about this…I tell you a story and you can tell me a fact. Just a fact, like you hate peas or something like that. Okay?"

He is silent.

"I'm taking your silence as an agreement. So…oh, I know," he hears the sound of the book close, there went his hope, "when I was younger, my best friend at the time, a girl named Ino and I really liked this one boy…you know I've already forgotten the boy's name," she sighs, "so we liked one of the boys so much that we had a competition between each other to see who could get the boy to like who more. We did all these outrageous things. I actually collected a box of worms and gave them to him. It was one of the most disgusting things I ever had to do but he was a boy…and boys like worms. Ino had ruined her favorite outfit with him when she went to watch him wrestle in the rain with some friends…that girl has never screamed louder – I swear windows actually broke. Hehe."

She pauses and waits for him to say something…he obviously does not feel the need to.

"Itachi, just one fact…we need to get to know each other."

"Alright," he agrees and doesn't see the look of shock on his doctor's face but can imagine one, "my fact is that I do not believe that we need to get to know one another."

She smiles, "good. Okay, my turn, and remember you can't use the same fact twice. Hmmm, oh in high school, this boy named Naruto was the class clown and –,"

Itachi had been coursed into playing Sakura's silly little game. He had let it be known that he enjoyed The Gunslinger, preferred the raspberry shake most, and hates having her as his doctor.

After his last statement he thinks he hears her groan but her voice is happy and perky, he supposes it's because she's thrilled to just hear him tell her things.

It soon becomes a part of his routine and he starts to mind it less and less. He tells her that he wants to get out, that he likes soy beans and eats them like popcorn, his favorite fruit is a pomegranate but he loves sweet things too, he also tells her a little about his family; how he can't stand his father and his mother annoys him. He tells her about some people in the office and random details he notices that he thinks are unimportant enough to share with her. She takes it all in like a sponge. The passing weeks become easier to deal with.

.

…

.

One morning he wakes up to the sound of hushed and harsh whispers. He immediately makes out Sakura's voice and tries to identify the other voice outside his door.

"I have rights, you know!" the stranger snarls and Itachi makes the motion of trying to sit up but can't move. His right arm and both legs are still in a cast and all his abdominal muscles ach with any movement he attempts to make.

"I'm sorry, but it is my professional opinion that it's best for you not to be here."

"I am paying you!"

Then the voice clicks with Itachi. It's his mother's.

"No…you are paying for the medical equipment, treatment, rent, and nutrition. The rest of your money is going to an orphanage. I am not profiting from this in any way, so once again…_leave_."

"You do not understand…you…you girl," his mother was at a loss for insults, "Itachi must be made aware of his position immediately."

"The only thing he should be worrying about right now is getting better, now please leave before you wake him up," Sakura's voice dropped an octave at her last plea.

"I'll have you know that I have spoken to dozens of doctors and –,"

"I am well aware of his situation Mrs. Uchiha, I am a doctor."

"Then you know there's no damn hope for his eyes!" Her voice is higher now and filled with authority.

"There is no such god damn thing as no fucking hope. Technology and medicine improves every day. Now get the hell out before I call security. This is private property and you are not going to aggravate my patient with your bullshit plans for his future. He is not a puppet, when he gets better you can talk to him and if he is able to stand you – maybe you two will find a compromise…but in my presence you will not be telling him what will and will not happen. You signed a contract with me, now…" She inhales deeply, "Get. Out."

"You will hear from our lawyers!" His mother shouts before slamming the door.

"Ugh," he hears her moan and then hears her footsteps outside his door. His eyes remain shut. "Sorry," he hears her whisper before walking into another door – one he recognizes as the bathroom.

Eventually he hears the shower go on, and with the sound of water running he tries to clear his thoughts. He could imagine what his family has planned for him – none of the ideas pleasant or remotely worth living for.

Having a disabled Uchiha in the family is unheard of…and a great shame.

He sighs as he opens and closes his eyes. The darkness is so comforting in a cynical way.

When she comes back in, smelling stronger of strawberries than ever – he thinks she may have used the entire bottle of shampoo and conditioner in her half hour shower.

"Good morning," she greets him, "so…I made a raspberry shake today," he feels a straw pressed against his lips and he accepts. "You're mother stopped by today," she says and he's surprised by her honesty. He hadn't expected her to share that information with him. "She has it in her head that you're well enough to be sent to Italy to work as…she used some latin word I don't remember. Anyhow," she pauses for a second, "I rudely chased her out…and didn't let her see you. I'm sorry about that. That may have been rude on my part…but I really cannot stand your mother."

Itachi's lips curve into a slight smile as he pushes the straw out of his mouth. She removes the drink and he hears it clang on the table as she puts it away.

"If you want to talk to her…just let me know and I'll call and…_apologize_," the word sounded vile, "and I'll invite her over. But if you agree, you have to know that your eyes are not a hopeless case. I've been doing research and called some friends up and there is a ton of progress in the field of vision degeneration. It is not _hopeless_."

He doesn't speak back.

"Well," Sakura begins again after a long interval of silence, "do you want to see her? You know to talk to her…"

"No."

"Alright, then today we start…erhm…Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer. It's actually my favorite book of all times. But, be warned it's classified as erotica."

"You like to read porn?"

The question startles both of them. Itachi didn't mean to ask, it had just slipped out. With the stupid sharing game she has turned into a day routine, the ex-lawyer's lip are loosened.

"It's not porn," she defends quickly, "it's just uncensored."

"Hn," Itachi replies, but his interest is piqued. He had expected to go through all the classics in literature with her, this is a surprise.

"It's good…and really deep. But I like it…and I'm not a pervert!" She mistakes his single syllable answer as condescending, unaware that he is curious about the book. "It's not like I watch porn…I think sex looks ugly…books just make it sound pretty…"

"Sex looks ugly?" Itachi can't help himself. She is a one of a kind person – to say the least.

"Yes…well no. I mean it's just…slabs of bodies slapping against one another…but books make it…really really sexy. Well…this not really, it's more philosophical, but other books do."

"You've never had good sex." Itachi states as an explanation for her beliefs.

"What?" Her shock gives away her answer as she denies it, "I have to! I have…it's just…ugh. No, we are not having this conversation."

He hears her getting flustered and wants to laugh…just a little.

"I have had decent sex," she continues to defend herself, "so…ugh," he hears a page flip and she starts reading – trying to escape the conversation.

Itachi relaxes in his position and listens to her bring the words to life. It surprises himself how much he enjoys the writing style and flow of the sentences. Henry Miller certainly knew what he was doing when he wrote the book.

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you for reading...thank you for reviewing...I hope you have enjoyed it.

This story hits really close to home for me, so it's a bit difficult to write sometimes. Thank you for bearing through the awkward sounding sentences.


	4. Kiss

A week passes by while they continue to read Henry Miller's _Tropic of Cancer_, and he takes great enjoyment from teasing her. The book doesn't have any spectacular sex scenes but it has a few moments and Itachi exploited those for his entertainment. Her embarrassment is so evident, even if he can't see her blushing face, he knows she is blushing.

"It figures," she glows after Miller takes up a prostitute and Itachi teases her about it.

"Figures?" He asks.

"You finally become friendly when the subject of sex is exposed."

"Exposed, ne?" He couldn't resist the pun.

"You…you…man, you!" She squeaks out, pretending to be angierer than she really was.

"I'm well aware that you know I am a man."

He hears Sakura choke on her own words, and relishes on being in control of the situation. It is, in a very sadistic way, fun.

It seem that these times are the only ones he can pretend that he isn't blind and in casts. In his mind he was back in high school, flirting the way he should have been. Instead he had spent his high school career, the long two years of it, working the stock market and making millions – because his father had made his first ten million at the age of eighteen and Itachi had to double that.

"Alright mister, what sort of sex things have you done? Mmmmm?" Her voice is drenched with fake confidence, but Itachi lets it slide.

"You won't find a position in the Kama Sutra that I haven't tried," he replies with the Uchiha cockiness.

"Yeah…well…bet you've never made a girl cum from a kiss!" She is grasping straws and they both know it.

"And you know someone who has?" He asks, ignoring the tugging desire to be able to see her face, but his mental state has made up a face to go with her voice. To him she is a brunette with natural blonde highlights, bright eyes…he switches them from blue and green depending, with a big smile and a soft complexion. Sometimes she even has freckles on her nose. That's what his mind's eye sees.

"Yeah…listen to this," he hears the sound of fumbling books, and then the sound pages turning. "He placed his thumb and pointer finger on her jaw and lifted her face up to his. Her breathing hitched and she began to tremble with the unknown feeling building up inside of her. He rumbling purr escaped his lips when he saw her sweet innocent eyes, begging for something she could never understand without experiencing. He leaned down, inching closer and closer, his soft breathing hitting her face and she not breathing at all could only watch with wide open eyes. His other hand snaked around her small waist and in one deft movement he pulled her closer – her lips touching his and from the shock of contact she let out a gasp, her lips spread apart for the entrance his tongue desired and….yada yada…and she cums."

"Yada yada and she cums? Brilliant literary statement."

"Shut up!" He hears the book slam shut, "It's Ichi-Ichi-Paradise…and there are too many innuendoes and...I'm not a pervert!"

"A romantic?" He asks teasingly. He feels his lips turn upwards into a smile.

"Fine, we're reading a tragedy next," he hears books tumble down onto the floor and a few moments she speaks again, "here, Peter Pan."

"You said a tragedy."

"Prepare to cry then and afterwards we'll read the little mermaid too!"

He chuckles under his breath and listens to hear start the Disney classic – surprised at how much deeper and darker it is than the cartoon he remembers watching as a kid. An inner part of him realizes how when she reads to him…he doesn't feel blind. The characters are there, the costumes are visible, and the scenery is real…

.

...

.

Time passes and he's not sure how much has passed but he knows that they've gotten closer; Itachi realizes that around Sakura he's not as depressed. It's when she leaves to bed that he begins to think about his situation, but when she's around things are okay.

And he starts to like okay.

He begins to admit more and more to her. He tells her about the Akita dog he had growing up, and that he found dissections in science lab classes to be disgusting, and how his prefers European cars to American cars…he starts to pick out the important facts to tell her…things he hopes she finds interesting.

.

…

.

"So…" she pauses half way into their new book; _Wuthering Heights_, "I was wondering…I know you said you're not a fan of chocolate. But today I got my vanilla chocobeans and I was going to make some hot white chocolate tonight. Do you want some?"

So that was what the door bell ring was about. She didn't tell him about it.

Itachi moves his head towards her, he's gotten used to it – even if he couldn't see it…he could imagine her there.

"White chocolate?" He asks.

"Well…I hate dark chocolate, and love milk and white chocolate…and my friend Shino, sent me over some cocobean mix from the Amazon. He does these weird insect series for the Discovery Channel. It's gross, but his wife and him love it. She's the camera lady…can you imagine spending a week in the jungle with nothing but your spouse and a lot of dangerous plants and animals? Ekk, it makes me shiver at the thought."

"It would be fine."

"Fine? In the Amazon? You've got to be kidding me."

"The hot white chocolate," he corrects her.

"Oh, okay," he imagines her smiling softly at him, "alright, hehe. So let's continue…"

.

…

.

She leaves later in the evening to make the coco, and returns ten minutes after. Itachi keeps his mind clear from the haunting thoughts that plague him when he's alone. He knows when he gets better, this doctor will relinquish all responsibility of him and he will probably end up in Italy doing pathetic work – that's of course if he doesn't off himself first.

When she comes back, the smell of white chocolate and strawberries fill the room. He hears two glasses clang on the table.

"So…tomorrow's your birthday, and I thought…well…I got you something."

Itachi was speechless. He didn't even know that his birthday was tomorrow…he didn't even know the time. Time is irrelevant when you can't do anything with it. That meant today is June 8th, tomorrow is June 9th….and he jumped off the building April 12th.

"You said you liked Mozart a lot too…and I ordered all his operas, orchestra pieces, and uhhh concertos on C.D. Since one disk takes like five hours plus…I thought we can listen to one of them and then when its over, it'll be your birthday….erhm, so…uh, is that okay?"

Moments of silence pass, not because Itachi doesn't want to say something but because Itachi doesn't know what to say. Finally, "Do you have the Magic Flute?" he asks, knowing that it would be one of the operas that she would enjoy most.

"Uh," he hears CD cases clatter against one another, "y-ye-Yes! One second, let me put it in."

Itachi waited and after hearing her whisper some indecencies about technology, the overture began to play.

She hands Itachi his cup of hot white chocolate and he accepted with his left hand. Careful at drinking it himself, appreciating that she allows him every chance she can to do things on his own. He feels her very close to him, her elbows on his bedside, as they listen to the masterpiece echo loudly throughout the room.

.

…

.

"That was so…beautiful," Sakura whispers when it is over.

Itachi nods in agreement. He was right – she did like it.

"Uh, here, let me take your cup," he felt her lean over and without thinking he lifts himself up slightly and places a soft kiss on her cheek.

"Thank you," he whispers and leans back down only to have a soft par of plump lips pressed against his. Her mouth feels perfect against his own; unlike his chapped lips, hers are soft and smooth.

It wasn't a romantic kiss, it was a soft lingering kiss…the one that told nothing but meant everything. It was reciprocation from her.

"Uh," Sakura pulls away slowly, too slowly and Itachi wants to lean forward and kiss her again, "I'm sorry that was absolutely redic –,"

"Its fine," Itachi says, cutting her off. The last thing he wants is to hear regret…regret of kissing him. An invalid.

"O, okay," he feels her remove the cup from his hand, "I hope you enjoyed the opera and hot chocolate…it was amazing."

He agrees, wondering how stupid they both were to kiss one another. He is lonely, that is the only logical explanation he can come up with. He would never otherwise make such a childish move.

"Alright, well…happy birthday…we should probably head to bed."

"Can you stay?" He asks uncontrollably. He doesn't want to think the way he does when she's not around, and he already hates himself for asking her to stay. How weak he is…how weak he feels….how dependent he is to her.

He hears the cup settle down on the table. "I'll be right back then; I'm going to get a blanket and pillow from my room."

If Itachi thought that only Sakura smelled of strawberries before, he was sadly mistaken, when she returns back with a blanket the entire room ends up reeking of a forest full of strawberries. He feels her cover the bottom half of his body with her blanket and then hears some clicks that he doesn't understand until she says, "stupid futon…I've never used it like this and…" a loud click echoes and he hears a thump, "oh yay, I did it. Good night Itachi," she says and he hears her settle down in her place of sleep.

"Good night, Sakura." He closes his eyes, hoping that sleep would capture him before his mind has a chance to run away with dozens of condescending thoughts.

* * *

**A/N**: I hope you enjoyed, please review. Thank you so much for reading. :)


	5. I wish I could see you

The next morning he wakes up after her, no longer feeling the blanket across his knees but he does hear the shower running.

He sighs.

He hasn't slept so peacefully since his attempted suicide. He keeps his eyes closed and reviews their recent reading, wondering if he could ever love as passionately as Heathcliff. Once again, the smell of strawberries begins to seep into the room.

Suddenly he hears a loud thud, "owie," she mutters nearby.

"You okay?" he asks instinctively.

"Yeah, just…forgot the desk was there, my thighs aren't wooden proof," she replies and adds: "so guess what?"

He remains silent…he is not going to be coaxed into a guessing game.

"Oh, that's right mister silent doesn't like to play games…but I found out that congress just pass a bill," he hears her sit down near him, "that requires increased spending on public education. Now that, I don't mind paying taxes for, right?"

"Hn."

"Oh, yes…why get excited about something like that…hmph."

"As much as you'd like to believe it's a good thing for the masses…it's better for the private sector. They will probably open false schools and use their funding similar to off shore accounts…and authorities will turn a blind eye till their lawyers find a loophole."

"There should be a no loopholes allowed law."

He may have grown accustomed to her presence but there were certain instances that were too beneath Itachi to reply to. Even disabled. This is one of those moments.

"Well," Sakura begins and at the last moment decides to change the subject, "then let's continue with my favorite Heathcliff."

"You like him?"

"What you don't?"

"I never said that."

"You implied that."

"I made no such implications."

"You did too! Ugh, you're impossible…and yes, I do like Heathcliff. The intense love and excessive passion he feels for Catherine is just….it kind of steals your breath away doesn't it?"

Itachi doesn't respond so Sakura continues reading from where they left off last time. She stops when hunger strikes the two of them and she leaves to make shakes.

"Do you survive on just these shakes?" he asks her after she places the cold cup in his hand. Carefully he positions the straw near his lips.

"Kind of, I sneak in a sandwich once in a while and munch on nuts too. When you can start eating solid foods again then I'll be getting the heavy duty cooking supplies out."

"Hn," he breathes out, not asking when he'd be able to start eating solid foods again. Though secretly, he catches himself wondering what type of cook the doctor is.

That night, Sakura sleeps beside him again.

.

…

.

Sakura suddenly stops on the third chapter of Crime and Punishment; another book that he enjoys. By the time he is released from her custody he thinks he'll have finished all the books worth reading. Itachi waits a few minutes for her to continue until he is forced to inquire if she is okay.

"I'm fine, I just…can we try something?"

Itachi finds it cute how she believes he has a choice in the matter.

"What?" He asks instead of the rude retort that is on the tip of his tongue.

"It's a game, I used to play with some friends on the way to school…we called it from Roses to Hitler."

"Sounds inappropriate."

"It's not…it's just the first time we tried we went from roses to Hitler…like I say a word and you say the first thing that comes into mind from hearing that word and then I say the first thing that comes into my mind after hearing your word. Ugh, it sounds stupid doesn't it," she laughs gently, "I really can be immature sometimes."

"Fine," he agrees to it. He doesn't like when she berates herself.

"Okay," he hears her close the book, "I'll start. Children."

"Annoying."

"Rap music."

"Gangster."

"Tupac."

"West Coast."

"California."

"Pot."

"Illegal."

"Murder."

"Death penalty."

"Controversy," Itachi says, enjoying the game more than he thought he would.

"Same sex marriage."

"Gay parade."

"Rainbows."

"My little Pony."

Sakura chuckled from hearing his response of, "princess."

"Frog."

"Kiss."

"Cum."

"You perv!" She snaps in a haughty tone.

He replies in all seriousness: "It was the first thing that came into my head."

"Well…well…fine! Cum…cum…ummm."

"You said the first thing that comes into your mind."

"Oh, sorry. Hehe, alright. Can you go again?"

"Cum."

"Ass!"

"You associate ejaculation with posteriors?"

"No! I was calling you an ass…oh my god," she is trying to control a fit of child-like giggles; "I can't believe you!"

Itachi's lips curve slightly. In his mind her skin is glowing and her cheeks are flushed and her smile is wide and he can see her white pearly teeth. In his mind, when she looks at him, her eyes have a special sparkle that makes them enchanting.

.

…

.

Sakura had warned him that she'd be taking off his arm cast later and he was supposed to be prepared.

He didn't prepare and now he isn't ready.

After everything is removed, he feels the anesthetic slowly wear off. Sakura passes the time away by telling him about one of her favorite German stories: The Six Swans. He slowly regains sensation in his right arm again. He has gone so long without it; it feels familiar and foreign all at once.

"Open and close your hand."

He obeys…it felt so new to do so. He almost feels as though his entire arm is submerged in a thick jell-o substance.

"I'm going to pinch you and stick needles in you to make sure your nerves are functioning, tell me what you feel. Then you're going to touch various things to see if you can distinguish surfaces, okay?"

He nods to the darkness. She inclines his bed forward and asks him to sit up a little bit as she stuffs more pillows behind him so he could be in a comfortable sitting position.

"Tell me if you feel something. Don't be scared to flinch."

He doesn't flinch…Uchiha's were taught not to.

"A needle," he says after she pushes a needle against his forearm.

"A pinch," he replies after she pinched him with an instrument he isn't able to identify.

"Now tell me if this is hot or cold."

"Cold," he says after she places an ice cube on top of his palm.

"Hot," he replies after she places the back of her phone battery on his bicep.

"Good…now, just let me feel around to make sure everything has healed properly."

He feels her hands massage his fingers, then palm, up to his forearm, lingering at his elbow, then up to his triceps, bicep, and up to his shoulder. If she were a _masseuse_, Itachi thinks he'd hire her to give him weekly massages.

"Wonderful. I'm going to place some things in your palm, feel around and tell me how it feels."

"A rock," he says after she places a smooth moonstone rock into his palm.

"You don't have to guess the item, just let me know how it feels," she switches the items.

"Alright," he rarely argues with her anymore. "Sponge like…I'd assume it is a sponge," he teases.

"Hehe, yes," then she places a granite rock in his hand.

"A rock, rigidly…granite I believe."

"Good," she picks up the rock with one hand and returns it on the table. While she picks up the next object, her other hand hovers over his open palm. He grasps it.

"Soft, smooth," he whispers gently holding her hand in his larger one, "petite," he continues.

"Mmm," Sakura mumbles looking down at his blind eyes, wishing he could see the affection she holds for him. Even with his suicide attempt, the Itachi she has gotten to know in the past few months has turned into the emotionally strongest person she has ever known. She admires him as her other hand reaches towards his face and she brushes a loose strand aside.

"Slender fingers."

"Wh-what else?" She doesn't mean to encourage him, but he has her charmed under his spell.

"Unpolished, well kept nails," his fingers slowly slides up towards her wrist, "no jewelry," his hand continued up towards her elbow, "rough skin around the elbow," he feels her muscles tighten, "obviously doesn't like to hear about rough skin."

She chuckles under her breath as his large hand continues roaming up her arm. "Small arms, but strong… boney shoulder," his hand go to her collarbone, "creamy neck," his finger flicks her ear accidently as she leans into him, "no earrings," his palm cups her face at her jaw and his thumb ran across her lips, "plump full lips," her tongue instantly went to lick her lips, touching his finger unintentionally, "wet tongue." Her lips spread into a wide smile. "Are my nerves working, doctor?" He mumbled.

"Y-yes, perfectly," she replied leaning her face into his hand, cuddling with his hand.

"I wish I could see you," he speaks so softly that she isn't sure she heard him right, but then his arm drops down back to his side and he refuses to speak again for the rest of the day.

She is shocked and unsure of herself. He hears her try to open her mouth and say something but she promptly closes it. She grabs Crime and Punishment from the table and reads it. Her voice is shaky at first but eventually she finds her momentum.

* * *

**A/N**: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Reviews are highly appreciated. Thank you for reading. :)


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